Euromusic Song Contest 2019
The Euromusic Song Contest 2019 will be the 11th edition of the Euromusic Song Contest. The contest is scheduled to take place in Greece, following their victory at the 2018 contest in Rome, Italy with the song "Fuego", performed by Eleni Foureira. Presenter(s) 'Maria Menounos' Maria Menounos (/məˈnuːnoʊs/; born June 8, 1978) is an American actress, journalist, television host and occasional professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE where she has served as an ambassador since 2013. She has made television appearances in the U.S. as a TV correspondent for Today, Access Hollywood, Extra, and abroad for co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens, Greece. She also co-created and is currently CEO of online podcast series network AfterBuzz TV. Menounos was born in Medford, Massachusetts, the daughter of Greek parents Costas and Litsa Menounos, who worked as janitors in a Boston nightclub. She has a younger brother named Peter. Menounos attended the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church in Somerville, Massachusetts. She also attended Medford High School in Medford. In 1995, Menounos began to compete in beauty pageants. The following year, she won the title of Miss Massachusetts Teen USA, and she competed at Miss Teen USA where she placed in the top 15, receiving an honorary mention, during the preliminary competition. Menounos placed 13th in preliminaries. She competed for the title of Miss Massachusetts USA 2000, and was the first runner-up. Menounos attended Boston's Emerson College, where she participated in the organization Emerson Independent Video. She graduated from Emerson in 2000. During her senior year at Emerson, Menounos worked as a reporter for Channel One News. For her 10-minute segments, she traveled to El Salvador to report on the 2001 El Salvador earthquakes, interviewed NATO aircrew members aboard an E-3 AWACS plane during the military alliance's Operation Eagle Assist, and interviewed President George W. Bush.needed Entertainment Tonight hired Menounos as a correspondent in 2002, where she reported on movies, music, and fashion. She left the program in 2005 to focus on her acting career, though she would join rival program Access Hollywood that fall as a correspondent. She went on to co-host a few episodes of the Today show in the late summer and fall of 2006 as well as in April 2007. In 2003, Menounos appeared on the November 30 episode of Punk'd where she was one of many celebrities caught in the awkward and embarrassing "Red Carpet Interviews". 'Sakis Tanimanidis' Sakis Tanimanidis (Greek: Σάκης Τανιμανίδης; born 30 April 1981) is a Greek TV host, producer and entrepreneur. Tanimanidis became known in his native country as the host, creator, producer and director of the travel show World Party that aired on Alpha TV from 2014 to 2016. In 2017, he became a household name as the Greek host and co-producer of Survivor 2017(the adaptation of the international franchise for the Turkish and Greek television). He is also the owner of two restaurants and one travel agency in Greece. Tanimanidis was born in Thessaloniki, Greece on 30 April 1981. He showed an early interest in showbusiness: While still an engineer student in the state university of Thessaloniki, Tanimanidis co-hosted the TV show Asteria kai Labara on TV 100 before moving to Boston for a 2-year MBA in Babson College. Menounos has been in a relationship with director and producer Keven Undergaro since April 1998. On March 9, 2016, Undergaro proposed to her live on The Howard Stern Show, and Menounos accepted. In addition, they own the online entertainment network AfterBuzz TV where she is CEO and an executive producer. In June 2017, she underwent surgery for meningioma, a benign intracranial tumor. On December 31, 2017, Menounos married Undergaro in Times Square during its New Year's festivities, in a ceremony officiated by Steve Harvey and broadcast during Fox's New Year's Eve with Steve Harvey. Location For more details on the host country, see Greece As of 10 June 2018, four cities have expressed an interest in hosting the contest: Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa and Piraeus. 'Bidding phase' The Deputy Chief of the host broadcaster, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) and the Head of Delegation for Greece, stated on 10 June 2017 that the first organisational meeting for the contest would take place before 8 July, during which the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation would go through the technical requirements for the contest, as well as any training required for the contest to take place in Greece. On 20 June 2018 Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) relieved the stage idea design for the 2019 edition. O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall The O.A.C.A. Olympic Indoor Hall (honorarily named Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall since 2016), which is a part of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (O.A.C.A.) "Spiros Louis" (Greek: O.A.K.A.), was completed in 1995, and was the largest indoor venue in use for sporting events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. It is located in the Athens suburb of Marousi. It is considered to be one of the biggest and most modern indoor sports arenas in all of Europe. The arena also contains a training facility. Since 2016, it is named after the well-known Greek basketball player Nikos Galis. Nikos Galis Olympic Indoor Hall is notable for its distinctive A-frame roof that features four huge pillars, each of which is 35 meters tall, that stand 108 meters apart from each other. According to the Greek Ministry of Sports, it is the largest indoor sporting arena of its kind in the world. The arena is also constructed in a unique way so that an abundant amount of natural light comes into the arena during the day. The arena seats up to 17,600 for gymnastics events, although only 12,500 seats were made publicly available for the gymnastics competition at the 2004 Olympics. It seats up to 18,989 for basketball games, which includes 18,500 regular seats for the fans, 300 seats for the media members, and 189 seats for VIPs. A large scale arena renovation was completed in 2004, for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The arena was then renovated again in 2016. On 18 and 20 May 2006, the Hall hosted the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, that was held in Athens, after Greece's victory at the Song Contest in 2005. There were 15,000 seats available for spectators, both for the semifinal and the grand final. Some of the entertainers who have performed at the arena include: Enrique iglesias Depeche Mode, Jennifer Lopez, Björk, Beyoncé, Roger Waters, Aloha from Hell, Tokio Hotel, Helena Paparizou, Sakis Rouvas, and Anna Vissi. Format 'Visual design' The slogan for the contest, Dare to Dream, was unveiled on 28 October 2018. Its visual design was revealed on 8 January 2019 which features logo consisting of triangles forming a golden star. Along with the main version, there are two more alternative versions of the logo. The logo, brand and theme was created by Studio Adam Feinberg. 'Semi-final allocation draw' The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals will take place on 28 January 2019 at 17:00 CET. The thirty-six semi-finalists have been allocated into six pots, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Drawing from different pots helps to reduce the chance of so-called neighbourly voting and increases suspense in the semi-finals. The draw will also determine the semi-final that each of the six automatic finalist countries (host country Greece and Big Five countries Armenia, Belgium, France, Germany and Spain) will broadcast and vote in. The ceremony will be hosted by contest presenters Sakis Tanimanidis and Maria Menounos. Wildcards Two wildcards will be given in each semi-final and one in the Grand Final: * Belgium - USED * Cyprus - Not used * Montenegro - Not used * Romania - USED * Switzerland - USED Betting Odds Participating countries 'Semi-Final 1' Greece, France and Spain will vote and perform in this semi-final. 'Semi-Final 2' Armenia, Belgium and Germany will vote in this semi-final. Switzerland was pre-drawn into this semi-final due to scheduling issues. 'Final' Scoreboard Semi-final 1 Semi-final 2 Grand Final Returning artists Other awards OGAE Organisation Générale des Amateurs de l'Eurovision (more commonly known as OGAE) is an international organisation that was founded in 1984 in Savonlinna, Finland by Jari-Pekka Koikkalainen. The organisation consists of a network of over 40 Euromusic Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, and is a non-governmental, non-political, and non-profit company. In what has become an annual tradition for the OGAE fan clubs, a voting poll will run prior to the main Euromusic Song Contest allowing members from over 40 clubs to vote for their favourite songs of the contest. Other countries Eligibility for potential participation in the Euromusic Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership that will be able to broadcast the contest via the Euromusic network. The EBU issued an invitation of participation in the contest to all fifty-six active members. The Israeli Minister of Communications Ayoob Kara has also invited countries from the Middle Eastern and North African region, with which Israel largely has tense relationships or no diplomatic relations. Kara pointed out Tunisia and the Gulf states Saudi Arabia as well as Dubai and Abu Dhabi as part of the United Arab Emirates. Tunisia is eligible to participate but has not due to rules banning the promotion of Israeli content, while the Gulf states do not have a national broadcaster with EBU membership. Also, Tunisia and the Gulf states all have poor LGBT rights. 'Active EBU members' * Andorra - Despite being absent for 10 years, local media reported that Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra (RTVA) was still interested in returning to the contest. In order for a return to take place, RTVA would need funding from the Andorran Government. On 19 May 2018, Andorra confirmed that they would not return in 2019. * Bosnia and Herzegovina - On 25 May 2018, the Bosnian broadcaster, Radio and Television of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), stated that the country will not be allowed to return to the contest in 2019 until debt-related sanctions placed on them by the EBU are lifted. Bosnia and Herzegovina last took part in 2016. * Bulgaria - Despite confirming their preliminary participation in the 2019 contest, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) announced on 13 October 2018 that many members of the delegations were moving onto other projects, and on 15 October 2018, BNT announced that they will withdraw from the contest in 2019 due to financial difficulties. * Slovakia - On 31 May 2018, the Slovak broadcaster Rozhlas a televízia Slovenska (RTVS) announced that the country will not return to the contest in 2019 due to financial difficulties. Slovakia last took part in 2012. * Turkey - After the Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım had stated in an interview that Turkey had no plans to return to the contest, on 4 August 2018 İbrahim Eren, the General Manager of Türkiye Radyo Televizyon Kurumu (TRT), said that at the moment the broadcaster was not considering returning to the contest for various reasons. Turkey last took part in 2012. Associate EBU members Liechtenstein - On 4 November 2017, 1 Fürstentum Liechtenstein Television (1 FL TV), the national broadcaster of the Principality of Liechtenstein, confirmed that the country were planning a debut in the 2019 contest, and that they were currently in the process of applying for EBU membership and are "in the process of complying all requirements". They also reiterated their intention to select the participant through a national selection process in the form of Liechtenstein Music Contest "open to any form of music". However, on 20 July 2018, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) stated that 1 FL TV have not applied for EBU membership. On 26 July 2018, 1 FL TV confirmed that Liechtenstein will not debut at the Euromusic Song Contest 2019 due to the sudden death of the broadcaster's director, Peter Kölbel.